Mara Tignino

biography

Mara Tignino is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law and the Global Studies Institute. She is also Lead Legal Specialist of the Platform for International Water Law at the Geneva Water Hub. Mara is the Lead author of the Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructure which was translated in French, Arabic and Russian (2019), An Assessment of the Legal Tools Applicable to Dams Planning, Development and Monitoring (2021) and  A Study of National Legal Frameworks related to the Protection of Water During Armed Conflicts  (2023). Her research interests cover international water law, the governance of oceans and climate change as well as international institutional law and sustainable development.  

Dr Tignino has been Visiting Professor at Renmin University of China (2017), the University of Barcelona (2014-2016), the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS) (2013) and the Catholic University of Lille (2010-2012). She was also a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. During her stay, she was involved with the Center for International Economic Policy of the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Ms. Tignino acts as an expert and legal adviser for States and international organisations (Inter-American Development Bank, UNITAR, UNEP, UNDP, and OSCE). She is regularly invited to international conferences and has given training workshops in Africa, Asia, Middle East and South America.

In 2017, she was awarded with the prize "Women Peacebuilders for Water" from “Fondazione Milano per Expo” for her research in international water law and her dedication to the creation of new generations of international lawyers. 

She was a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Interest Group of “International Business and Human Rights” of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and she is a member of the ESIL Coordinating Committee of the Interest Group on “International Organizations”. She was a mentor of the “Women in International Law” Program of the American Society of International Law (ASIL). She is a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She was the founder and past chair of the Interest Group on Water of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.

Ms. Tignino holds a Diplôme d’études supérieures and a Ph.D. in international law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. She received her Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) from the Faculty of Law of the University Jean Moulin Lyon 3. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the LUISS of Rome and a Certificat d'études politiques européennes from the Institut d'Études Politiques of Strasbourg.

Corps des collaborateurs de l’enseignement et de la recherche